


Missing Scene - Unexpected Changes by Jaguar

by mogwai_do



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 08:05:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14160396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mogwai_do/pseuds/mogwai_do
Summary: This is a missing scene for someone else's fic, that fic being Unexpected Changes by Jaguar. I never intended to write something like this, but the concept was just so intriguing I couldn't leave it alone.  It's necessary to have read Changes Within and Unexpected Changes by Jaguar first for this to make any sense at all. I've tried to find them, but they seem to have disappeared from the net. I hope I did them justice with my little doodle. Many thanks to Jaguar for everything. This takes place while Jack is inside the Cad'ice tower.Summary: What happened when Jack entered the Cad'ice tower for the second time.





	Missing Scene - Unexpected Changes by Jaguar

It felt almost like diving underwater as the Cad'ice engulfed him, sudden pressure and a lack of air. Then the pain hit, a bolt of searing agony shooting up his spine; Jack screamed, needing to let the pain out rather than succumb to the instinct to retreat into unconsciousness. It had been hours the first time and days the second - he couldn't afford that now, not with Apophis on the doorstep and his team held prisoner. His nerves were ablaze, he could _feel_ the Cad'ice seeping through his skin, moving through his veins like a slow rush of liquid fire. The world greyed out; the only sounds were the harsh screams from his already raw throat, but he clung to what little he could, fighting with every breath to stay conscious as all sense of time fled.

'Jack.'

Jack drew a ragged breath; his vision was blurred, not that there was anything to see, and he could feel the sweat trickling down his face and spine, sticking his clothes to him. He felt weak as a kitten and his body trembled with shock and pain. With a pang of fear he realised that he had no idea how much time had passed or how little, no idea whether or not his friends were still alive.

'Jack.'

Nine days, even nine hours, he simply could not afford. With an effort of will, Jack tried to force his thoughts to some semblance of coherence. Dimly, beyond the shakes that wracked him, he felt an odd, rippling pressure, stroking, soothing almost, up and down his spine as one would comfort a child.

'Jack.'

He exhaled slowly, trying to still the tremors, and finally acknowledged the presence that surrounded him. "Hey," it sounded little more than a broken wheeze to him, but the Cad'ice didn't seem to mind. It was, quite literally, the thought that counted.

The soothing touch rippled up and down his back again,'We are glad you have returned.' Jack felt the warmth of that voice against his over-stressed body. Warmth and a somewhat alien affection wrapped around him and the urge to just curl up safe within its embrace, to sleep and recover, was almost overwhelming. 'We missed you,' a pang of fears now proven unfounded and without thinking he was reaching out to offer comfort to a creature that was unlike anything they had ever encountered. Undercurrents of steel suddenly spiked through the otherwise soothing tones, 'We will protect you.'

Jack tensed, feeling something happen in the Cad'ice around him, but not sure what, and then there was a surge of satisfaction. He shook his head trying to clear it of the almost overwhelming presence of the Cad'ice in this state, forcing his mind to the reason for this.

"No," he whispered as forcefully as he could manage, "Not me. Daniel, Sam, Teal'c. Protect them."

Puzzlement and concern echoed back at his words and he groaned softly. How could he make it understand? Jack shook his head, trying to think of a way to reach the alien understanding, all the while knowing it was time his friends might not have. When they had been joined he hadn't needed to explain to be understood. Now, not quite joined, not quite separate, it was just so difficult to think, to reason and explain.

'It would hurt you for them to be harmed?'

Jack gasped in relief, "Yes," he should have realised it was able to read him with far less difficulty than he was having with it. And with that acknowledgement came the realisation that while he had considered himself a separate entity once again after their first separation, the Cad'ice never had. To the Cad'ice, he was as much a part of it as the pieces the Tok'ra had stolen and he always would be, his voluntary departure had been accepted, but not enjoyed. It would have protected him whether he had asked it or not, for his friends though he had to ask, to relate it in terms of himself. Around him the Cad'ice rippled and the pressure against his body increased, for a moment he thought he was going to black out from the combination of fierce emotion and physical exhaustion. As if registering his weakened state, the pressure of the Cad'ice suddenly eased.

'They are safe,' the voice was soft, although he could still feel activity around him, the Jaffa maybe? He didn't like being cut off from what was happening, but the Cad'ice couldn't, wouldn't, lie to him, he knew that much.

"Thank you," his voice sounded almost normal now, his abused throat recovering slowly. With a smile Jack let his thanks flow from him to the surrounding Cad'ice, feeling pleasure reflected back, not pleasure at Jack's thanks, but simply for Jack being there, the kind of unconditional love and gratitude of a pet or a small child. Wanting so badly to be accepted and taken home, but not daring to hope just yet.

A pang of loss shuddered through him and for a long moment he wasn't sure if it was his or the Cad'ice's. Now that all the pieces the Tok'ra had stolen had been restored, Jack honestly couldn't say if he would ever be able to return, promise or not. The suspicion with which Hammond and Frasier had regarded its effects on him was a pretty effective obstacle. And worse, he could sense that the Cad'ice knew it too, yet all he felt from it was a kind of implacable patience. It would wait, but he honestly couldn't guess for how long and then who knew what it might do. He knew that despite their separation, they had retained a link, tenuous maybe, but there all the same. Sooner or later it would find him and who knew what or who it would go through to get him.

Yet if he left, they knew for certain that Apophis now knew of its existence and the Tok'ra too, although perhaps they would think twice before experimenting this time. The Cad'ice knew enough not to trust now, but would the innocent suffer for it as well as the guilty - would anyone wandering through the Stargate be considered a threat and dealt with accordingly?

For all its power, Jack couldn't help but feel responsible for it, protective of something possessing far more power than a mere Colonel in the USAF. The Cad'ice was unique; it was lonely and it was dangerous, both hunter and hunted. Jack took a quick, deep breath and felt the wistful longing that had underlain everything suddenly transmute into a fierce hunger that surged through the Cad'ice as it read his intent before the thought was even fully-formed.

"Do it!" he snapped, knowing he had to go ahead now before he changed his mind. The decision wasn't wrong, it was even logical in a way, but it was something that had to be done now or never, and the consequences of never...

The pressure surrounding him tightened almost unbearably as a kind of fierce exultation swamped his mind, blanking all thought. And then it was happening. Jack had expected pain, he remembered enough of the first time for that, but it didn't come. Instead, his head swam with images and emotions, memories he didn't recognise, the tenuous link they had retained expanding rapidly to every corner of his soul. He half-choked as the Cad'ice sought entrance to his body as it already had his mind. He was drowning, physically, mentally and emotionally. Panic loomed, but some instinct overrode it - he could breathe if he just relaxed and accepted. The flood eased to a steady pulsing, like the incoming tide, in time to his heartbeat, or maybe it was his heartbeat, he wasn't sure any more.

Light-headed, Jack blinked and blinked again. He could see Apophis, see the Serpent Guards fall around him, he could clearly feel now the odd flex and release of the Cad'ice as it methodically destroyed his... _their_ enemies. He sensed the odd tremor in the air the moment before the rings helped Apophis escape. It was over, they'd won, relief swelled and with it came the Cad'ice, the tide of memory and knowledge rising quickly, everything it had to tell him clamouring for attention. He gasped at the sensation and it stopped - instantly - Jack took a deep breath and twitched his shoulders, pleased to find the movement easy.

"Later," he murmured, not sure why he felt the need to speak out loud, especially now, but he felt the acknowledgement within himself. He needed more time to assimilate than they could currently spare, for now that they were one would suffice. Later, after he'd made sure his team were safe, after they'd debriefed and been checked over by Frasier, then he could relax. Until then though, he needed to retain enough control to pass the medical and Hammond's overly concerned scrutiny. He appreciated it, really he did, it was just unnecessary. First though, he had to convince his team.


End file.
